Fe-MOF with U-Shaped Channels for CH/CO and CH/CH Separation.

The development of high-performance adsorbents is critical for the low-energy separation of acetylene. Herein, we synthesized an Fe-MOF (MOF, metal-organic framework) with U-shaped channels. The adsorption isotherms of CH, CH, and CO show that the adsorption capacity of acetylene is significantly larger than that of the other two gases. Meanwhile, the actual separation performance was verified by breakthrough experiments, indicating the potential to separate CH/CO and CH/CH mixtures at normal temperatures. Grand Canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulation demonstrates that the framework with U-shaped channels interacts more strongly with CH than with CH and CO. The high CH uptake and low adsorption enthalpy highlight Fe-MOF as a promising candidate for CH/CO separation with a low regeneration energy.